But seriously, if its a multi million dollar house, why would someone rent and shell out $100k when they could put that down on a $1M house. It just doesn't make sense, especially in this economy with this housing market

Just a thought, but maybe their credit sucks; possibly related to the housing / market crash of a few years ago.

Watching the Detroit Lions play this season, I'm reminded of a book by Jim Collins called "Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't." Collins spent five years researching good companies that were trying to take the next step toward greatness. The book might have been written for the business sector, but many of Collins' findings can be applied to NFL teams -- especially the 2012 version of the Lions.

Under coach Jim Schwartz, the Lions went from really bad to good in a short time. Clearing that hurdle -- climbing out of the cellar of the NFL -- was not as difficult as many might have expected. However, Schwartz's next challenge -- elevating his team from good to great -- will be one of his toughest yet, because it will require having the right people with the right character on the roster.

Collins believes that to be great, companies must have employees who are incredibly passionate about their pursuit of greatness, and obsessed with making the company successful. Do you see any signs that the 2012 Lions have those traits?

The Lionstook their first backward steps this offseason with their many off-the-field issues. Many might argue that such issues don't affect teams, but they do. They affect players' focus, resolve and overall commitment to greatness.

In the NFL, success can be more difficult to handle than losing, and the Lions have not handled their success well. Their lackadaisical attitude has been obvious on tape, as has their lack of concentration; their failure to protect the football is killing them. From quarterback Matthew Stafford's interceptions to tight end Brandon Pettigrew's constant fumbling (he coughed up two fumbles on consecutive receptions Monday against the Chicago Bears, though the ball bounced harmlessly out of bounds both times) to the inability of the defensive line to stay onsides, it's clear that the Lions are not focused.

They make too many mistakes. They seem to have been lured into thinking that no matter how many mistakes they make, they can overcome and still win, like they did in their season-opener against the St. Louis Rams and in Week 6 against the Philadelphia Eagles. But as Collins writes, "Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness is largely a matter of conscious choice, and discipline." The Lions have demonstrated no discipline when it comes to attention to detail, protecting the football or doing the little things that matter most. A lack of attention to detail was why they lost Monday night's winnable showdown with the Bears. Chicago didn't win; the Lions lost.

However, the season is not over for Detroit. The playoffs might be difficult to reach at this point, but over the next 10 games, the Lions must refocus, re-energize and re-commit. And Schwartz must close ranks; he must play only those players who demonstrate that they can go from good to great. He must find out who is with him and cast away those who are not. No one can be immune; everyone, from coaches to players, must be held accountable. This will be a defining moment for Schwartz, who has the skills to lead the team and the toughness to make the right choices.

The coach must convey to his team what Collins believes: "Good is the enemy of great." And he must do this now.

Lions center Dominic Raiola was part of Matt Millen’s first draft class in 2001, so he has lived through as bad a run as an NFL team can have. And he says there’s no danger that the 2-4 Lions are going to go through anything like that again.

Raiola told the Detroit Free Press that the Lions’ struggles this year aren’t the same as the team’s struggles in the past, because the negative attitude that once pervaded the locker room in Detroit is gone. Raiola credited coach Jim Schwartz for running off anyone who wasn’t buying into the way the Lions do things, and he said this is a very different team than the team that had a losing record in each of Raiola’s first 10 seasons.

“No, I don’t think so,” Raiola said of the Lions going in the tank this season. “I think before Jim got here, those guys are out of here. And if they are [around], they’ll be gone soon. I don’t think we need to worry about guys packing it up early or giving up or quitting on the team, because that’s not here anymore.”

Raiola said the Lions’ locker room was once a bad place to be, but that’s no longer the case.

“I’m glad those guys aren’t here anymore because the negativity is contagious and it spreads like a fire, because you’ve got one guy saying it, then a veteran thinks it,” he said. “We don’t have guys like that. We’ve got good, solid veteran workers that like to work, guys that are going to be here for a long time. Our stars are going to be here for a long time. And I think that’s the core of our team, so I don’t think there’s any chance of that happening. I know it’s not going to happen.”

The attitude in Detroit may be better, but the record isn’t. A 2-4 team with a good attitude is still a 2-4 team.

me too, perhaps it is because you keep trashing the place everytime the Lions lose Billy....

Nope, I always leave the house in better shape than it was when I moved in. I will fix the place up as much as I can and treat it like I own it. I wouldn't trash a place that I own. So, I wouldn't trash a place that someone else owns.For an example: I just moved into the house I am living in now. It needs a new water heater. So, I bought a new water heater yesterday and will install it sometime today. I don't mind doing it because it benefits my family. I am eventually, ( and I already have permission to), build another bathroom in the basement. My wife and I sleep in the basement bedroom, ( it's cooler down there in the summer), and I hate walking up the steps 2-3 times every night so I can pee. So, I will spend the time and money to make the house suit my needs better. And in the process, the house will be more valuable due to the extra bathroom. ( the same house with 2 bathrooms is more valuable than the same house with 1 bathroom.)

October 27th, 2012, 9:34 am

Pablo

RIP Killer

Joined: August 6th, 2004, 9:21 amPosts: 9596Location: Dallas

Re: Killer's Korner

MLive wrote:

ALLEN PARK -- The Detroit Lions worked out five veteran cornerbacks this week. The team currently has five corners on the roster, but Jacob Lacey and rookie Bill Bentley are still recovering from injuries.

Lacey suffered a concussion against the Philadelphia Eagles and returned to practice on Wednesday. Bentley has been dealing with a shoulder injury the past several weeks and did not practice Wednesday.

The Lions also have Drayton Florence and rookie Chris Greenwood on the comeback path. The team still has one week to activate Greenwood off the physically unable to perform list. Florence, who suffered a broken forearm in Week 2, practiced on Wednesday for the first time since the injury, but can't come off injured reserve for another two weeks.

Below are brief profiles of the veteran corners worked out by the Lions:

Chris Hawkins A two-year starter at LSU, Hawkins went undrafted in 2010. He was signed to the Tennessee Titans practice squad at the end of that season and made the team's active roster in 2011. The 6-foot-1, 184-pound cornerback appeared in nine games for the Titans last season, registering 19 tackles, including eight on special teams.

Chris Johnson A seventh-round pick by the Green Bay Packers in 2003, Johnson spent the last five seasons with the Oakland Raiders. He was scheduled to make $3.5 million this season before being cut in a cap-saving move. He played in 59 games with Oakland, starting 29. He intercepted eight passes and defended another 45 in those games.

Justin King A fourth-round selection in 2008, King spent his first four seasons with the St. Louis Rams. He signed in the offseason with the Indianapolis Colts, but was cut after Week 5. In 38 career games, the six-foot, 186-pound cornerback has 99 tackles, 11 pass defenses and one interception.

Roy Lewis A four-year veteran out of Washington, the 5-foot-10, 190-pound Lewis spent the last two seasons with the Seattle Seahawks. In 24 games as a reserve and special teams player, he made 50 tackles and broke up five passes.

Frank Walker The 5-foot-11 Walker has been a member of six teams since being drafted in the sixth round in 2003 out of Tuskegee. He appeared in 14 games with the Dallas Cowboys last season, making 25 tackles and intercepting a pass.

It has been a long time since the Lions' offensive line has gotten much respect nationally, but slowly the perception that they're the weak link of an otherwise potent offense is starting to change.

Last week, the statistical based website Pro Football Focus unveiled its midseason offensive-line rankings, and the Lions checked in fifth overall and got high marks for their pass-blocking and penalty-free play.

And in Sunday's 28-24 win over the Seahawks, Chris Clemons, one of the game's best and most underappreciated pass rushers, paid the Lions quiet respect.

At one point early in the game, Clemons approached right tackle Gosder Cherilus and told him, "You guys are good (up front), we're good, it's going to be a good matchup."

"The guys in this locker room, they understand," Cherilus said. "If you were to ask Matt (Stafford), (Mikel) Leshoure, Kevin (Smith), they'll tell you exactly the type of things we've been doing and the type of team we have. At the end of the day, you earn respect from your peers and even guys across the league.

"These are the type of things we come to expect. That's what we want."

The Lions are tied for 10th in the league with 14 sacks allowed through seven games despite throwing a league-high 326 times. And while Stafford and his quick release deserve some credit for that efficiency, the veteran front has shut down some pretty good pass rushers in recent weeks.

Clemons, who entered Sunday's game third in the league with seven sacks, had no sacks or tackles working primarily against Cherilus and left tackle Jeff Backus.

Two weeks ago, the Lions held Jason Babin, Trent Cole and a good Eagles front sackless in an overtime win, when Stafford attempted 45 passes. And even in last week's Monday night loss to the Bears, Backus and Cherilus held Julius Peppers to one sack and the Lions averaged 5.4 yards a carry against maybe the best defense in the NFL.

"Us running the football isn't anything but them kicking (butt) up front, which is what they've been doing," Stafford said. "You look back at the Eagles, that's a highly priced defensive line, guys that can rush the passer, and (they) kept me clean. We ran the ball great against them. Chicago, we averaged whatever we averaged per carry against them. They kept me pretty clean there, too, and the whole stadium knew for the whole second half we were going to throw the ball.

"So they've done a great job. I can't give enough credit to those guys, they're really starting to come into their own and bring the physical attitude that we need, and they're playing great."

Left guard Rob Sims, who is in his third year starting with the Lions after a 2010 trade and still ranks as the line's newest face, said continuity helps explain why the Lions have been so solid up front and why they still don't get much respect nationally.

They don't have any of the game's highest-paid linemen, they don't have any top-10 picks, and the first-rounders they do have are either backups (Riley Reiff) or on the backside of underappreciated careers. (Backus is in his 12th season.)

"I think as a whole we're playing some of our best ball, and I think if you look around the league, we're one of the best out there," Sims said. "I'm not going to say the best, but I would say one of the best. And not really having any stars. We don't really have stars, we got workhorses that work."

Stafford said those workhorses -- center Dominic Raiola and right guard Stephen Peterman are the other starters -- deserve more recognition, and winning's the only way to make it happen.

"If we continue doing what we did last week and playing like that and winning ballgames, I'm sure they'll get talked about," Stafford said. "But they're offensive linemen, man. They don't expect to get in the paper and I don't think they'd have it any other way. They have the respect of everybody in this building and on our team, and that's I think all that matters to them."

The Detroit Lions have claimed former Oakland Raiders cornerback Pat Lee off waivers. To make room on the roster, the Lions released Alphonso Smith.

Lee, a former second-round pick out of Auburn, played three seasons as a reserve for the Green Bay Packers before signing with the Raiders this offseason. He appeared in eight games for Oakland, starting the final seven, before he was released by the organization Saturday.

The six-foot, 200-pound cornerback has 30 tackles, one interception, one forced fumble and four pass breakups this season. He's also been a key special teams contributor.

Below is a brief scouting report from Scouts Inc:

Lee has good size, strength and athleticism. His development has been hindered by a lack of playing time. Lee does run well with range to overlap zones. He can be a physical tackler with pop and power on contact. Lee needs game experience to reach his potential and has made his biggest contribution on special teams.

Smith re-signed with Detroit in October when the team needed depth in the secondary to counter injuries to cornerbacks Bill Bentley and Jacob Lacey. He appeared in four games, tallying eight tackles and two pass defenses.

In the Lions' loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, Smith was limited to special teams duties.

It is also expected the Lions will activate cornerback Drayton Florence off injured reserve this week. The team will need to release another player in order to add the veteran cornerback to the active roster.

The addition of Lee seems to indicate the Lions will not be signing cornerback Stanford Routt who worked out for the team last Friday.

The Lions are 4-7 and they aren't going to make the playoffs. But what happens these next five weeks could determine the fate of a lot of players, perhaps some coaches — though probably not head coach Jim Schwartz, who signed an extension before the season — and the true direction of this franchise.

Was last year a fluke? Is this season, with all the bizarre losses, a fluke? Is this a team on the rise that hit a nasty speed bump this season, or did a few fortunate breaks last season fool us into thinking it was further along than it was?

The Lions are 9-14 since starting 5-0 in 2011, counting the playoff loss to the Saints. They are 1-7 against NFC North teams since that point. They have one win against a team with a winning record in two years - Seattle.

But, this season, six of their seven losses have been by eight points or less. Their largest margin of defeat was the 10-point loss at Minnesota.

So what are we looking at? Is this a team that is right there, a break, bounce or a big play away from seriously contending? Or is it a team that's just good enough to get beat by quality teams?

How they finish will go a long way toward answering those questions. If they finish strong, maybe general manager Martin Mayhew is just patching cracks and holes this offseason. If they throw in the towel and play out the string, maybe he has some serious structural damage to repair.

"I don't think that will happen," Calvin Johnson said, when asked if he thought there were players who might check out. "Guys have a lot of pride around here. It better not get that far, put it like that."

It would be a shame if it did, because as befuddling as most of these losses have been, the talent-level is obvious. Compare the Lions to the Jets. Both are 4-7 but which roster would you rather take into a game next week?

"It's been frustrating, no doubt about that," said tight end Tony Scheffler. "We haven't been getting the bounces we got last year, that's for sure. But we have to keep fighting. Nobody on this team is going to quit. We will keep coming out and give our best. We are fighting to the end."

The margins are so slight in the NFL. The Lions point differential is 1.18. In the seven losses it's 5.8. It's a play or two or three each game that seals their fate, one way or the other.

Here are 10 pivotal plays from the 34-31 overtime loss to Houston Thursday. If one or two of these plays goes the Lions' way, the outcome is different. We'll list them from most obvious to less obvious.

1.Jason Hanson's missed 47-yard field goal in overtime. He is 21-for-24 this season and all three misses hit an upright.

2. Justin Forsett's 81-yard touchdown run. The Lions were up 10 and in control in the third quarter. If the officials would have made the obvious call that he was down and if Schwartz had not lost his composure and held on to the challenge flag which would have allowed the play to be reviewed and overturned, you take seven points off the board and erase the huge momentum swing.

3. Brandon Pettigrew's fumble in overtime. He made the catch and had the Lions in field goal range at the Texans' 32. But he tried to fight for extra yards and as he swung his arms to free himself, Danieal Manning ripped the ball away.

4. Texans' 93-yard drive that sent the game into overtime. The Lions had three golden chances to stop it. On third-and-eight, Matt Schaub hit Andre Johnson for 13 yards. On fourth-and-seven, Schaub hit Johnson for 16. On third-and-10, he hit Johnson for 12. All three of those were slant routes and Johnson wound up being matched on either a linebacker (Stephen Tulloch) or a safety (Ricardo Silva).

5. Lions failure on the final drive of regulation. They had 1:50 left and moved quickly to the 45. One more first down and they would have been at the outer edges of Hanson's range. But on third-and-10, instead of trying to get the first down, Stafford decided to take a deep shot to Johnson. Probably got a little impatient there.

6. Ryan Broyles' third-down drop. On the Lions' second possession in overtime, Matthew Stafford hit Broyles on a deep sideline route inside the Texans' 25. It was a difficult play, but Broyles had two hands on it until he hit the ground. The ball bounced up into the air and was picked off by Brice McCain. Replays correctly overturned it, but the Lions went from being in field-goal range to having to punt.

7. Vanden Bosch's dropped pick-six. On the Texans next possession, Schaub, passing out of his end zone, was hurried and threw a ball right into the hands of Vanden Bosch. The pass surprised him, obviously, and he couldn't hang on. If he could've, he would have walked untouched into the end zone.

8. Two failed chances to make it a two-score lead. The Lions offense shot itself in the foot twice early in the fourth quarter. Leading 31-24, a 16-yard punt return by Stefan Logan set them up at the 46. But, on third and 5 from the Texans' 36, Stafford was sacked by J.J. Watt. On the next possession, again starting at midfield and getting it to the 36, Stafford was again sacked out of field goal range by Watt.

9. The fumbled punt that wasn't. The Lions were up 7-0 in the first quarter when a Nick Harris punt appeared to hit a Texans player (Glover Quin) and the ball was recovered by Erik Coleman at the Houston 45. The Lions could have forced the Texans to play uphill with a score there, but the officials ruled it didn't hit Quin. Schwartz challenged but the replay was inconclusive, according to referee Walt Coleman. The replays I saw showed the ball clearly hitting Quin. What wasn't as clear was whether Lions' Ashlee Palmer hit it first.

10. Chris Houston's two misses. On the Texans' drive that tied the game at 14 in the second quarter, Houston had two chances to stop the drive. On the first play of the drive, he dropped an interception near the sidelines. His more critical miss came on third-and-five from the 45. He turned a little late on a long pass to Johnson, but still got his hands on the ball and deflected it. Unfortunately, the carom went right into Johnson's hands for a 43-yard gain that set up the touchdown.

It's been that close most weeks for the Lions; and it's hard to know whether to take solace in that or hurl yourself against the wall.

"It's a blow," Vanden Bosch said. "I feel like I know how guys are going to respond. I feel like I can see the fight in everybody's eyes. Losses like this, it's tough. It's tough. But we'll be all right, we'll bounce back. We just need to get some breaks. We've had opportunities and come up a play short several times this year.

Filling in for injured starter Jonathan Joseph, Ball had the bad luck assignment of covering Lions receiver Calvin Johnson. He got an up close and personal look at a milestone first half for both Johnson and quarterback Matthew Stafford.

Johnson had five catches for 103 yards in the half, including a 22-yard touchdown catch over Ball.

With his first catch of the day, a 20-yarder, Johnson went over 7,000 receiving yards for his career. He is the second player in Lions' history to reach 7,000 and by doing it in 87 games, he did it in two fewer games than Herman Moore.

He joins four other players — Lance Alworth (72), Torry Holt (82), Randy Moss (83) and Jerry Rice (83) — to get to 7,000 yards in 87 game or less.

Stafford, who was 14 for 26 for 246 yards and two touchdowns in the half, passed the 11,000-yard mark for his career. Only Kurt Warner surpassed 11,000 yards in 40 games or less.

Just an article I found while searching out info on our 2013 cap status. Some interesting ideas even if some of them aren't 100% accurate.

December 19th, 2012, 9:05 pm

Pablo

RIP Killer

Joined: August 6th, 2004, 9:21 amPosts: 9596Location: Dallas

Re: Killer's Korner

Boy, this is a broken record...

freep wrote:

Lions have high hopes for OL Jason Fox next season

Jason Fox has played essentially one half of football in his first three NFL seasons, but he got a ringing endorsement about his future from offensive coordinator Scott Linehan on Wednesday.

“Great future for Jason,” Linehan said. “This is the first year he’s been 100% healthy. It’s not uncommon. There’s other guys that have been through it. Kyle Vanden Bosch can tell you what it’s like to start off early in your career with injuries and then have a great career beyond that.

"Basically, he’s going to be hitting his stride going into next year. He’s got some position versatility. I’d see him playing a lot of football for us next year.”

A fourth-round pick in 2010, Fox battled knee problems his first two NFL seasons and barely saw the field. He missed time in training camp his rookie year as he recovered from college surgery on his left knee, played four games late in the season -- mostly on special teams, after Gosder Cherilus got hurt -- and filled in at right tackle for the second half of a season-ending loss to the Minnesota Vikings.

Last year, Fox suffered a foot injury in training camp, missed the second half of the season after undergoing right knee surgery and did not appear in a game.

He has been active for just one game this year, when Jeff Backus sat out a Thanksgiving loss to the Houston Texans with a pulled hamstring. But he could push his way into the starting lineup next fall.

Cherilus is a free agent after the season, and Backus, a 35-year-old who has $500,000 roster bonus due early next league year, faces an uncertain future after dealing with a slew of recent injuries. In the past 18 months, Backus has torn chest and biceps muscles, broken his thumb and missed the first game of his career, because of the hamstring.

Rookie Riley Reiff, who has played mostly as the Lions’ sixth offensive lineman this year and started one game in Backus’ place, should start somewhere next year.

Linehan said Fox, who’s five months older than Reiff, still projects as a tackle but can play either guard position, and “I wouldn’t put center past him.”

“We stayed relatively healthy, so he didn’t get any opportunities this year,” Linehan said. “But we saw a lot of him in preseason, and what you get to see out here in practice, he gets to work against our (defensive line) on a daily basis. He’s what you’re looking for in an offensive lineman.”